A shadowy black figure crawled out from Gavin Duan's eye socket.
Its head looked like a scorpion with six eyes, dragging a tail over half a meter long. Six pairs of barbed, jointed claws made it look like a demon that had crawled straight out of hell.
Whoosh!
The Evil Zombie, now greatly strengthened, streaked through the air like a bolt of black lightning, heading straight for Evan Lin.
The first layer of defense Evan had sealed onto Gavin was easily shattered by this Evil Zombie. Its grotesque, chilling eyes locked tightly onto Evan's face.
"Evil Zombie."
Evan shook his head, pointed a finger, and instantly ignited a blazing line of fire in midair. With a sharp whoosh, it blasted into the Evil Zombie's head.
Wild flames engulfed it on the spot, sizzling as its flesh was roasted.
"Eat it."
Evan spoke, and the Three Maiden Spirits instantly rushed forward.
This Evil Zombie's strength was already close to first-grade Vajra. If it managed to devour Gavin's body, it might break into the Pointing-to-Mystery Realm.
Evan hadn't thought much about it before, but now he realized the Evil Zombie's value was anything but low.
Thinking further, Damon Wang's identity must be anything but simple.
But after all this time, Damon Wang seemed to have vanished into thin air, never contacting Evan.
Putting those stray thoughts aside, the Three Maiden Spirits tore into the wounded Evil Zombie, while Evan walked forward and tapped glowing points of different colors onto Gavin's nearly shattered bones.
"Melting-Flame Array: governs combat, ignites potential, and tempers flesh and blood with fire power."
"Gentle-Water Array: governs recovery, nurtures vitality, and speeds muscle repair."
"Dawn-Metal Array: governs explosive force, channels inner strength, and vastly amplifies punching power with metal-breaking, stone-splitting might."
"Azure-Wood Array: governs stamina and qi, lets you feel no hunger or fatigue, feed on light and dew, and sustain endless vitality."
"Umber-Earth Array: governs defense, sheaths the body in thick-earth power, can withstand immense impact and even shrug off bullets."
Evan's expression was calm and solemn as he inscribed each array formation onto Gavin Duan's bones, one by one.
Every time an array took shape, dazzling light flared up from within.
Gavin hovered at death's door—one missed breath away from going completely cold.
Luckily, the Gentle-Water Array kicked in fast, moistening his body.
Five-colored radiance churned inside him, morphing and shifting again and again.
"These are all small arrays, but laying down five at once still tires me out at my current level."
Evan withdrew his hand, looking a bit worn out.
Gavin was completely unconscious now. Fully fusing all five arrays would take a few more days.
At this point, Gavin's whole body was basically a magic artifact. He couldn't cultivate like a normal person; the only reason he'd reached first-grade Vajra was because of the Evil Zombie inside him.
In essence, his body provided the nutrients, the Evil Zombie cultivated itself to that level, and then fed power back to him. It was basically a symbiotic relationship.
But Gavin's body had hit its absolute limit—at any moment, the Evil Zombie could've devoured him completely. That's why Evan decided to intervene.
Evan carried the unconscious Gavin back to his room.
As Evan turned to close the door, he happened to spot Jill Jing in pajamas, hugging her pitiful stuffed toy.
No one knew when she'd arrived, but it was obvious she'd just seen Gavin's still-not-healed body.
His limbs and head were still not fully restored, almost detached from his trunk.
"Can't sleep."
Jill whispered, looking as fragile as a blade of grass in the wind.
"He'll be fine in a few days."
Evan thought for a moment, then spoke.
Jill nodded hard, showing none of the fear Evan expected—she was completely natural about it.
Maybe it was because she trusted Evan—she absolutely believed he would never hurt Gavin.
Evan took her by the hand, walked her back to her room, and brewed a cup of hot milk for her. Despite Jill's obvious reluctance, he all but forced her to drink it.
Watching Jill frown and drink the milk miserably, then finally go back to sleep, Evan returned to his own room.
The Three Maiden Spirits appeared before him. In their hands, the Evil Zombie had already been divided into three parts—one for each soul. They stared at Evan, waiting to see if he'd let them eat.
Devouring a first-grade Vajra Evil Zombie would be enough to trigger a qualitative leap in their power.
"Eat it. Level up your cultivation."
Evan waved his hand. The Three Maiden Spirits didn't hesitate—after wolfing down their shares, they retreated into the Spatial Ring to digest and absorb.
Meanwhile...
A room with an ancient, classical vibe.
The whole room was dim yellow in tone. In front sat a long offering table, and on it rested a grotesque severed head.
Several small wooden tablets stood before the head.
Blood had been used to write bizarre symbols on the tablets—strange, unknown patterns.
Crack!
One tablet suddenly shattered, breaking into fragments and falling to the floor.
As the tablet broke, the old crone who'd been sitting cross-legged in front of it suddenly opened her eyes—her hair was already white as snow.
"The Wang family's curse—how could it possibly be broken!"
Her voice was raspy, sounding more like a broken bell, full of shock and fury. Her white hair stood on end as she shouted.
That chilling voice sent yin wind whipping through the room. Countless Gu insects crawled out from the corners, swarming everywhere.
"Looks like I'll have to step out myself."
Even her words carried a soul-chilling coldness.
As the mastermind behind it all, Evan had no idea the Evil Zombie's division and consumption had triggered such a shockwave.
Over the next few days, Lily Zhong stayed by Old Man Liu and Professor Gordon Gu's side, only seeing Evan briefly at the hotel each night.
Every time, Evan could sense that she had something serious on her mind—she kept hesitating, unsure whether to speak.
Meanwhile, Evan spent his free time taking Jill Jing around the city. Lynn Chen even came to find him once, and the three of them had a meal together and went to an amusement park.
Jill seemed to harbor a hard-to-describe hostility toward Lynn, while Lynn's feelings on seeing Jill were complicated and tangled.
Luckily, the two girls didn't fight or quarrel.
It wasn't until the math modeling contest results were about to be announced...
Only then did Evan learn from Lily Zhong, after much hesitation, that Old Man Liu and Professor Gordon Gu had gone to a banquet at the Shang family's house.